An Old Friend
by KatLeePT
Summary: A friend to children watches over Henry throughout the years. Spoilers!


He slips in underneath the door. He seeps through the windows and walls. His good magic pushes the darkness away until, at last, he hovers right above the new baby's cradle. He gazes down into that innocent face sleeping so soundly and ponders everything he knows is yet to come. The Queen has cast her own downfall, but yet at the same time, the boy, not his mother, will be every one's savior.

He watches him for a while until he senses the Queen beginning to stir, and then he slips out as silently and easily as he first slipped through pass all her many spells and guards. This boy is going to be important to them all, both those who have already been here and those who remain unaware of Storybrooke's existence and secrets. He slips away into the night, but he knows he'll be back. He'll have to keep an eye on this one.

~*~*~

It's several years later before he takes real notice of the child again. The boy has slipped away from his mother and is playing in the woods. It's not a safe place for a child, but any one who touches this tyke is in for nothing less than death at his mother's hands. The fact that the Queen now has a child has spread quickly through the land. No being dares touch him as he picks some of the last wildflowers.

He smiles, watching him. He's making a bouquet for his mother. The Queen will be surprised, to say the least, but he has a feeling these flowers even the coming cold. Cold air flashes from him. Tonight will be Storybrooke's first hard freeze of the Winter.

~*~*~

He watches him reading in the crook of a tree where he thinks he's hiding from the whole world. The child finds the book his teacher gave him quite fascinating. His watcher smiles, knowing he's learning truths he has yet, but will soon, come to accept. He's beginning the path to the journey that will change his life, and his old friend looks forward to seeing the improvements for the child and his world.

Regina will be furious, but with time, she'll come to see that all these things that are now happening to Henry and herself are in fact bringing them closer to their happily ever after ending. That thought makes him lower his blonde head. The cold breeze picks up, and the sky darkens. It's time for Winter again.

~*~*~

The boy's another year older when he pays him another visit, and he has yet to figure out what he needs to know. His friend has a lot of work to do already, but there's a more important task he chooses to undertake himself. As he flies low over the meadow, touching the flowers and grass with the first bits of frost, he lets himself be seen for the first time in a hundred years.

The boy sees, but he doesn't answer when he shouts to him. He circles through the air and vanishes again, then smiles as he watches the child's reaction. Henry knows magic is real now. It shouldn't be much longer before he finds his mother.

~*~*~

He has found his mother and was so close to being happy, but then something terrible happened. His friend doesn't quite know what, because he was away when whatever it was happened. He knows it has to do with another Immortal child, a certain boy who refuses to grow up, and he knows another old soul is dead. He's heard many whispers, but he's not concerned with what was. He can do nothing to turn back the clock and save Rumpelstiltskin.

Besides, Rumpel chose to grow up. He chose to become older than his years and darker than any free spirit he can touch. He chose his life, but Henry . . . Henry has yet to be able to choose his own ending, and he won't see his happiness taken from him so easily.

So he waits. He waits and watches as the boy goes to school day after day. He watches him playing video games and spending time on his computer, his books and magic forgotten. He's growing up too fast and completely wrong. He worries as he watches him, and then, suddenly, it snows.

He lets the snow come down. The entire city is blanketed is white. School is called off for the day, but when Henry opens his window, he finds a small snowman already built on the ladder outside. He frowns at it, wondering who could have reached the rungs without coming into his room and who had the dexterity to build a snowman on a fire escape.

"Pretty neat, isn't it?" he asks. "I can do a lot better, though. Come outside. Let's play."

But Henry just mutters, "That's odd," and shuts the window, never hearing his friend. Left alone, the magical boy's heart plummets. The child must be saved. He must remember magic, but clearly, it isn't for him to be the one who brings him back to himself.

~*~*~

He stays nearby that Winter, performing his other tasks and being fussed at by his elders. He tries to tell them he must keep an eye on the boy, but none of them will listen. They all say the same thing: The affairs of mortals are not to concern them. But Henry is no ordinary mortal. He tells them, but they don't listen.

He's overjoyed when the Pirate approaches the boy's birth mother and journeys with them, shaking his head at each lie Emma tells her son. He hopes that Henry will remember everything when he sees his mother, but not even the Queen can restore his memories. He frets as he flies beside them, never being seen by adult or child or even Witch.

He feels like screaming for joy when Regina saves the day. Henry is normal once more, but his friend is called away before he can rejoice. He returns just in time to see a figure slinking off into the darkness and shakes his head for he knows nothing good can come from this woman. Winter should not be hers with which to meddle, but it is a power she has taken and, he fears, will wield for all the wrong reasons.

He finds Henry at Granny's, slipping in the door behind Grumpy. The Dwarf stops and turns around, but he doesn't see him. No one does, except for the great Rumpelstiltskin sitting in a far corner. He looks straight at him, but then looks away. He has a wedding to plan and a woman to love and has little use for anything that might distract him. That's fine for him. He's glad to see Rumpel once more upon the living and well on his way to being saved, but he's not here for him. He's here for Henry, just as he is on his first day back to school.

He circles above Henry as he swings. He watches as he brings the swing to a stop and looks around. He knows he's thinking of everything that has happened over the last couple of years and feeling quite alone. His birth mother and grandparents are concerned with doting on Neal, and even the Queen has become distracted by her feelings for Robin Hood. Roland and Neal are both cute, but it's Henry who still needs him.

He watches as the boy looks around him, feels the weight upon his young soul as he sighs, and drops down in the swing next to his. Even Grace has left him, opting to spend more time with her father than on the playground. Nobody can blame the girl, but Henry needs a friend. He knows he'll get into trouble for this, but there's more trouble coming. He won't let the boy face it alone, and he knows that sometimes, even when he's completely surrounded by his family, Henry still feels alone for, like himself, he's trapped in the body of a child but his soul is so much older.

He materializes in the swing when Henry's not looking. Then, at the same time, as the boy turns to face him and his eyes widen, he lets out a breath. It's a bright, sunny day, but yet his breath is frosty. Henry's eyes widen even more. "Hey, who are you? Where'd you come from?"

"I'm Jack," he says. "I'm new to Storybrooke."

"No one's ever new here! Well, except for my Mom, but that's different."

"I know, Henry, and I know all about your other mother, too."

Henry pauses, but then his eyes widen once more. His mouth flies open, and he starts to speak, "Hey, you're Jack - " But Jack shakes his head, and Henry, as wise as he's ever been since learning the truth of his family and his life, silences himself. His grin is still big, however. "Wanna go for a shake at Granny's?"

"I betcha I can make it the coldest and best one you've ever had."

"You're on!" Henry leaps from the swing. Grinning at him, he asks, "Race ya?"

"Oh, yeah." Jack laughs as he runs, his feet never touching the ground. Henry follows suit, finally no longer feeling so alone. Jack looks back at the boy smiling at him and has to smile back, even though he knows he'll never hear the end of this from Old Man Winter or even Saint Nick. Still, the boy needs a friend, and sometimes the best thing any one can be, young or old, is a child.

Laughing, he races his friend to Granny's, but all the while, he keeps an eye out for danger. Henry won't be touched by evil again. He won't lose his magic, his memories, or his family ever again. He will be saved and will save others. Jack Frost will make certain of it.

The End


End file.
